Your hard work keeps paying off. On November 14, 2017, the proposed Millennium coal export terminal was delivered another major roadblock. The Cowlitz County Hearing Examiner denied two shoreline use permits for the proposed Millennium coal export terminal for failing to meet the requirements of the Shorelines Management Act.

Many of you traveled great distances to attend the public hearing (and the celebration party) two weeks ago and even more of you flooded the comment period with strong voices and reasons for denial. Thank you. You helped convince the Hearing Examiner that Millennium’s coal export project fails to meet local and statewide laws.

At the public hearing in Longview, Washington, Millennium admitted that it would not comply with a requirement to mitigate 100% of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project, and as a result, upped the number of significant and unmitigable impacts caused by the project from nine to ten.

The Hearing Examiner found that the harmful impacts to public health and the environment “preclude any conclusion that the Project results in a long term over short term benefit.” The harmful impacts include excess noise, increased risk of cancer, traffic delays, disproportionate impacts to minority and low-income communities, statewide rail capacity, rail safety, vessel transportation, tribal resources, and greenhouse gas emissions.

“This decision marks the fourth time that Millennium’s coal export proposal failed to meet local and state laws,” stated Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky, Co-Director of the Power Past Coal Coalition and Senior Organizer with Columbia Riverkeeper. “Millennium faces insurmountable hurdles, and the company should end their coal export aspirations today.”

“I took an oath to protect the lives and wellbeing of our communities. The Millennium coal export proposal runs counter to all of medicine, and the health and wellbeing of our community, ” said Dr. Stephen Chandler, a Longview physician who treats cancer patients every day. “Our voices were heard by the Hearing Examiner and I hope that his decision will finally stimulate our leaders to move forward with a healthy, productive and creative use of this precious river site.”

Because of your strong commitment to clean air and water, and a healthy climate, Millennium faces insurmountable hurdles to building North America’s largest coal export terminal. They should end their coal export aspirations today. If Millennium decides to appeal today’s decision, it will be a steep hill with a summit they likely can’t reach. Let’s stay vigilant until every door to coal export has been closed and Millennium’s dirty and dangerous coal scheme is locked out of our communities.

A new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute on a controversial fracked gas-to-methanol refinery proposed in Washington state confirms McKibben’s assertion: the Kalama methanol refinery will not help us achieve a low-carbon future or meet the goals in the Paris Climate Accords. According to the report, approving the Kalama methanol refinery “would not appear to be consistent with globally agreed climate goals of keeping warming at less than 2 degrees Celsius.”

Critical public comment period to convince Governor Inslee, and state and local officials, to stop the Kalama methanol refinery and the Kalama Lateral pipeline. The refinery would use more natural gas than all other industry in Washington combined. If we stop this project, we can protect our climate and river communities from decades of fracked gas pollution.